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Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically, which we share with Chickens, Cats, Guinea Pigs and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I work as an environmental educator, lecturer, writer and Forest School leader at Moors Wood . I am a Master Composter and have spent the last 11 years as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council. I offer talks and run workshops and events where we talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. We also make crafts and have fun.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!

Friday, 3 April 2015

Scottish road trip

I had such a fabulous time in Scotland :) Walking, canoeing, drinking wine, chatting, laughing, singing, some Forest School CPD, drinking wine, chatting, eating choklit, laughing some more ...you get the idea!

I am also SO pleased about the fact that I managed to go away to see my friends (who I have not seen for ages) and eat sociable meals with them even though they were not gluten or lactose intolerant so we had to make some alterations to meals ( thank you friends :) ) , drink some wine (well quite a lot of wine, actually!) and eat 100% chocolate ( I introduced them to it!) and feel in control and healthy AND come back having reduced a bit more of my weight! And do a heck of a lot of driving around in my fab new-to-me car without being TOO physically wrecked by it.

My friends were all intrigued and interested in my weight loss and my way of eating and I have lent several of the group copies of various Harcombe Diet books and pointed them to the website. They are not overweight but were interested to investigate THD.

They all saw what I was like a year or more ago so knew of my health and weight difficulties and were astonished and delighted at how much healthier and fitter I was.

A year ago I would NEVER have been able to do a hike into the mountains for hours over rough terrain in rather adverse weather conditions (did you see the weather forecast for the Highlands last weekend?)

Trust me, it was very wet and very windy and very cold. We had sleet/snow where I was and that is quite unusual for the Argyll and Bute region as it is temperate rainforest ( yes really!)

A year ago I would NEVER have been able to do a 4 hour sea canoe expedition in very challenging weather conditions. We were well looked after by Ian from Argyll Voyageur Canoes who was really great and very knowledgeable of the local area, having been born and raised there.

We had a camp out at the half way stage where collectively we Forest School Leaders managed to get a basha up and a Kelly Kettle lit and a brew up made in what I can only describe as really, REALLY very challenging conditions! Horizontal hail and vertical rain and a nearly gale and 2 C with a wind chill added to that! But IT WAS FUN :) We sang to the seals :)

This time last year I would just not have even contemplated doing this because I knew I would have been a hindrance and not capable of doing it as it would have been dangerous for me to join in, for all concerned.

So, finding THD and sorting myself out I now have back something else I used to love to do - hiking and outdoor activities

I loved seeing all my friends and I really had a great long weekend, even if the journey up and back down the M6 was a bit of a nightmare.

Gosh, what a difference a year makes! Well done, I'm so glad you were able to have such a great time:) I'm hoping that the lack of posts on your other blog indicates that you are out and about enjoying yourself!!